Govt officials penalised Rs 1.24cr over past five years.

Times of India: Bhubaneshwar: Saturday, February 22, 2025.

Officials of different state govt departments were penalised Rs 1.24 crore over the past five years for violations of RTI Act, revealed chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi in the assembly on Thursday.

Majhi, who also holds the portfolio of information and public relations minister, responded to a query raised by legislator Ranendra Pratap Swain. Swain asked about the number of applications, disposal rate, and penalties realised under the RTI Act between 2019-20 and 2023-24.

Majhi, presenting a written reply to the query, mentioned that as per the provision of the RTI Act, 2005, there is no penal provision for first appeals. "In the second appeals, the same is imposed by the State Information Commission whenever the commissioners feel appropriate," he said.

As per the revelation, as many as 1,114 penalties were imposed on public officials from 41 state govt departments from 2019-20 to 2023-24, and an amount of Rs 1,24,91,200 was realised from them during the five-year period.

The highest number of penalties, 518, was imposed on officials in the panchayati raj and drinking water department, and an amount of Rs 57.28 lakh was realised from them. This was followed by 120 penalties and realisation of Rs 11.49 lakh in the revenue and disaster management department.

The third on the list of violators is the school and mass education department, on which 112 penalties were imposed, and a fine of Rs 16.94 lakh was collected from the public officials. As per the RTI provisions, such penalties can range from Rs 250 to Rs 25,000 per day.

On the number of RTI applications received, Majhi mentioned that during 2019-20, it was 70,460 with a disposal rate of 96%. In 2020-21, it was 40,888 with a disposal rate of 94%, and during 2021-22, it was 55,474 with a disposal rate of 90%.

Similarly, the state govt departments received the highest number of RTI applications during 2022-23. During this period, the number was 79,363 with a disposal rate of 93%, and during 2023-24, it was 77,858 with a disposal rate of 94%.